BL 5-inch howitzer

Ordnance BL 5-inch howitzer
Territorial Force gunners with howitzer in camp pre-WWI
Type	Field howitzer
Place of origin	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Service history
In service	1895 - 1919
Used by	British Empire
Wars	Mahdist War Second Boer War First World War
Specifications
Weight	2672lb (1212kg)
Barrel length	42 inches (1.07 m) bore (8.4 calibres)
Shell	50 pounds (22.7 kg) Common shell; 50 pounds (22.7 kg) Lyddite shell; later 40 pounds (18.1 kg) Amatol shell
Calibre	5-inch (127.0 mm)
Breech	3-motion, interrupted screw
Recoil	5.5 inches (140 mm), hydro-spring constant
Carriage	Wheeled, box trail
Elevation	-5° - 45°
Muzzle velocity	788 ft/s (240 m/s)
Effective firing range	4,800 yards (4,400 m) (50 lb shell); 6,500 yards (5,900 m) (40 lb shell)
Filling weight	9 pounds 15 ounces (4.51 kg) (Lyddite) 5 pounds (2.27 kg) (Amatol)

The Ordnance BL 5-inch howitzer was initially introduced to provide the Royal Field Artillery with continuing explosive shell capability following the decision to concentrate on shrapnel for field guns in the 1890s.

The weapon was used by the Royal Field Artillery and served successfully at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898. During that campaign they gained the distinction of being the first British guns to fire the new Lyddite shells in action.

Major D Hall states that in the Second Boer War the Lyddite shells often failed to detonate; the gun was too heavy to be used as a field howitzer, and for siege use its range was too short and shell too light. However, it achieved some success in Natal when able to get close enough to bombard Boers in trenches.

By 1908 it was obsolete and replaced in British Regular Army brigades by the modern QF 4.5-inch howitzer.

Territorial Force brigades, however, continued to use the howitzer in World War I into 1916, including notably in the East African campaign.

A lighter 40-pound (18.14 kg) shell with Amatol filling replaced the original 50-pound (22.68 kg) Lyddite shell early in World War I Together with an increase in cordite propellant from 11 oz 7 drams to 14 oz 5 drams, this increased the maximum range from 4,800 to 6,500 yards (5,900 m). Administrative error led to the new 40-pound shells being sent to Gallipoli without range tables or fuze keys for the new pattern fuzes, rendering them useless.